New Mike Laureanno CD, Pushing Back Wintertime

Mike Laureanno, a singer/songwriter who also played bass and sang high harmony with
Jack Hardy for years, has just released a new CD, Pushing Back Wintertime. Among the twelve songs
is one written for Jack, "Let Go." The CD is available
through CD Baby.

Sheila Mac Donald Covers "The Black Hole," Dedicates New Album to Jack

Tribute Concert by Songwriters Exchange

Members of the Songwriters Exchange will celebrate the life and legacy of Jack Hardy
in a tribute concert at
the Christopher Street Coffeehouse on
February 2, 2012. The coffeehouse takes place at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village,
New York City. Refer to the Christopher Street Coffeehouse calendar page
for more information.

T Shirts Available

T Shirts, which sold briskly at the 2011 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, are available while supplies last. The
cost is $15 each, including shipping. They may be ordered by sending a check for the total amount made out to MORGAN HARDY and
mailed c/o 45 Dwyer Ave., Liberty, NY 12754. SPECIFY SIZE(S) DESIRED. The colors are jade (Medium),
pale blue (Large), and "Texas orange" (Extra Large). For more information, e-mail
Angela Page at: folkplusgmail.com

Jack's CDs will be offered for sale at a booth at
the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 22 through 24, 2011,
in Hillsdale, New York. Some of his recordings have been reduced to limited numbers,
so those interested in acquiring them on fixed media (CDs with printed inserts and lyrics, etc.),
are advised to buy them now.

At 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, 2011, various artists will pay tribute to Jack
at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. John Gorka,
Lucy Kaplansky, Dan Navarro, Mark Dann, Terry Kitchen, Radoslav Lorkovic, Eric Lee,
and others will offer a special concert of Jack Hardy's songs.

Radio Tribute Now Available on CD

Angela Page's radio special on Jack Hardy, which was first broadcast on March 26, 2011, on
WJFF-FM, is now available on CD. Below is an outline of the special
program, with voices from his life and 15 partial or total songs from his huge repertoire.

Copies of the 59-minute special Love Brings You Home: Remembering Jack Hardy are available for a
donation to Jack's children. Checks may be made out to MORGAN HARDY [Jack's daughter] and
mailed c/o 45 Dwyer Ave., Liberty, NY 12754. [The amount
is at the discretion of the donor. The webmaster suggests keeping in mind
the costs of the production and shipping, as well as the fact the some of
the content of this CD and the accompanying photos are unavailable elsewhere.]
For more information, e-mail Angela Page at: folkplusgmail.com

Playlist of Love Brings You Home: Remembering Jack Hardy

Jack Hardy - "My name is Jack Hardy and these are a few of my tunes" -
[intro picking of "Pondersa" fades out]
Terre Roche on meeting Jack in Pittsburgh in 1974
Jack - The Roche sisters invited him to the New York music scene
Jack Hardy - [Portion] "Night on the Town"
Maggie Roche says that they traveled together out west
and he came to live in New York
Jack Hardy - "Tree of Rhyme" – Landmark -
Big Pink Music [Korean Box Set]
Jack says he was born in Indiana, and grew up in
Colorodo and Connecticut...
Ewart Skinner – Assistant editor to Jack U. of
Hartford's student paper
"The Liberated Press" where Jack was arrested for
libelling Nixon. Jack was community.
Jack Hardy - "I Ought to Know" - Omens -
1 800 Prime CD
Nancy Baxter - met Jack at 19 years old, remembers
him at Folk City with his cape, knowledgable
and leading the post-Dylan scene
Lucy Kaplansky - "an iconic figure in the 70's and 80's
folk boom," "there wouldn't have been a scene without Jack"
Jack Hardy - "All Saints' Eve" - The Nameless One -
1 800 Prime CD
Frank Mazzetti - rules on the songwriter's circle
Stan Rogers – Stan mentions the songwriter circle while on WFDU
Christine Lavin - thankful to Dave Van Ronk for introducing
her to Jack, who showed her about working together as a community.
Angela - "1979 we went to Ireland and tracked down everything
we could about James Clarence Mangan with whom he was fascinated."
Jack Hardy - "An Bael Bacht" - Songs of Jack Hardy, Vol. 1:
Of the White Goddess - BCN Records
Jay Rosen - "Jack always told me he'd be more famous
after he was dead"
Tom Duval- "saw many crowd Jack, wanting something from him,"
Tom promised himself he wouldn't ask - he didn't ask
for any of the riches Jack eventually offered to him
Jack Hardy - "The Changing Wind" - The Hunter - Great Divide
Suzanne Vega - "Jack had a gift for melody"
Roy Champagne - "Fan of Everly Brothers, and singing
with his brothers made that evident from the beginning"
Jack and Gordon Hardy JR. - [Portion] "End of the Road" -
Early and Rare - 1 800 Prime CD
Jack Hardy with Jeff and Chris Hardy - "Ruins" - Live tape Roy C.
Tim Robinson - "there's no one to compare him to," "poetry
and word sounds first - meaning comes later"
Roy Champagne - "he hated the music business"
Jack - "if Beethoven were alive today, he'd be writing jingles"
John Gorka - "Jack was the first person I met who wrote on
a schedule"
Jack Hardy - "Blackberry Pie" - Tinker's Coin -
Great Divide Records
Mark Dann - owes being a recording engineer to Jack, "he gave me the
visibility on the scene taping Fast Folk"
Hugh Odoherty - coast guard rescue pilot, tweeked "Ship of Fools"
song to a verse of ship of feuls
Jack introduces Mike Laureanno
Mike Laureanno - "we need to remember jack is a formadable artist
which gets eclipsed as him as the force behind Fast Folk";
he should be covered by other artists
Jack Hardy - [portion] "Ain't I a Woman" - solo demo not released
Jack Hardy - [portion] "Ain't I a Woman" - live from 2010
New Bedford festival with Mike Laureanno and Morgan Hardy
Jack introduces of Kate MacLeod
Kate MacLeod - georgeous metaphor for humanity's depth
David Massengill - "the songwriter I most admire in this world"
Jack Hardy - [portion of ] "White Shoes" - White Shoes -
1 800 Prime CD
Anthony DaCosta - "Jack called me grasshopper,
I looked up to him as a mentor"
Jack Hardy - [portion] "Willie Goggin's Hat" - Tinker's Coin
Abbie Gardner - "any songs I write from now on will be
without his guidance and inspiration,"
"'don't forget to write' so that's what I'm going to try to do"
Angela - He worked from Advent to Easter '82 writing 13 songs for
the Jan us church service, with Reverend Stone
Jane Orcutt - speaks on Peacemaker Players who performed Jack's
plays in churches, county college and local theatres
Jack Hardy - "The Knights Dream" - Collected Works Of Jack Hardy
Angela - opera singer from viena dedicates her night show to Jack
as his was the first song she ever sang on a stage
Brian Rose - he was an Irish mystic, and a cowboy rustic, but
living with artists in NYC, his career leveled off,
but writing never stop growing
Roy Champagne - "'Rio Bravo' was his favorite western,
he would have liked to have been a singing cowboy"
Jack Hardy - "Go Tell the Savior" - Early and Rare -
1 800 Prime CD
Angela - Jack toured extensively overseas for almost 40 years,
where he was incredibly popular
Jack Hardy - [portion] "Dover To Dunkirk" - The Nameless One -
1 800 Prime CD
Kirk Siee [bass player for tour last fall] - before he knew it
he was on a plane with two Hardys, borrowed bass
and rented station wagon
Angela - Jack knew over a dozen songs in gaelic, he'd memorize a
verse at a time on long walks with his dog Brogabhan
Jack singing in Irish while driving with family to yearly
rental in Ireland
Angela - his last trip overseas, he performed for the last time
Pat Maloney - "Jack had no idea how sick he was, but he never
stopped, nobody knew how bad he was feeling"
Jack Hardy - "Ponderosa" - Last Performed Song in public,
taped on 1/21/11 by Pat Maloney, McCarthy's Bar in
Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland
Slan abhaile, Jack

Jack's Passing

Jack Hardy passed away on March 11, 2011, after a short battle with cancer.
We are all mourning his loss and send our most heartfelt condolences to his family
and others close to him.

For the time being, links to obituaries and tributes will appear on the main page.

Jack's final performance was January 21, 2011, at McCarthy's Bar in Dingle, Ireland.

Some of Jack's friends gathered on March 18, 2011, to share songs and stories and to honor his memory.

New Boxed Set and Release of First Seven Albums on Individual CDs

Big Pink Music in South Korea has issued Jack's
first seven albums on CD. They are packaged invididually and also as a boxed set containing
all seven CDs, plus a bonus CD of ten live performances from the late 1970s and early 1980s (most of songs
not previously released).

They are being sold by multiple parties
on eBay, Amazon.com, and perhaps other sites.
The prices are generally $19.99 for individual CDs and $149.99 for the boxed set.

This is a means to get single CD copies of these albums, which
otherwise have only been available in the Collected Works sets. Jack's first,
self-titled album is available for the first time on CD exactly as it
was on vinyl. (The first CD in the first Collected Works volumes contains some of
the same songs and some different ones.)

These issues were authorized by Jack. Lyrics are included on an insert sheet, and the boxed
set contains a booklet with photos and newly written commentary by Jack about the albums. The
sound quality is exceptional.

The long-term availability of these items is uncertain. Reportedly the eight-CD boxed set is limited to 100
copies.

New Kate MacLeod CD Includes "The Inner Man"

Kate MacLeod has recorded a cover of Jack's song, "The Inner Man," on her new
CD. Her new recording, Blooming, was produced by Tim O'Brien
and features Nashville-based musicians Darrell Scott, Byron House, and
Kenny Malone.
It is available through Waterbug Records at www.waterbug.com and
digitally through CD Baby. For more information, see Kate's website, www.katemacleod.com.

Kate is a well-respected fiddle player who has performed with Jack at concerts over the years and
contributed to several of his albums, including Omens and Noir.

Rye Grass CD Released

Jack recorded a new album, Rye Grass, in late June of 2009. It will be
available for sales at shows and through CD Baby.
Contributing musicians include Mike Laureanno on bass, Abbie Gardner and
Laurie MacAllister from Red Molly on dobro and banjo and harmonies, and
Morgan and Miranda Hardy on fiddle and harmonies.

The songs are:

Soundtrack

Crime of the Century

Rye Grass

Tobacco Shed

If I Were to Lay Me Down

Ask Questions

Rainer

Prisoner

Kansas

Now and Then

Little Dove

Folk Brothers CD Due in July

The first album by The Folk Brothersalso known as Jack Hardy and David Massengillhas
been recorded and will be out in July. Lyrics and other information will be
available at folkbrothers.com.

Article in Autumn 2007 Sing Out!

Blog about Kerrville

Reg Meuross's blog includes
notes on the four days he spent with Jack Hardy and others at this year's (June 2007)
Kerrville festival.

"When Mary Rested on the Rock" on Compilation CD

Jack's song "When Mary Rested on the Rock" is available only on a compilation CD of
Christmas-related songs called No Two Flakes the Same. The CD is put out by
Penny for the Guy Records. It may be
ordered by sending $8.00, which includes postage, to:

Bandolier is Jack's new album of "western country" songs. (The title
song is set in the Mexican Revolution.)
The CD was released November 16, 2002, and may be ordered by sending
a check or money order for $17 ($15 plus $2 shipping) payable to Jack Hardy
to:

Christian Bauman's upcoming novel, The Ice Beneath You, contains two
references to Jack Hardy. One is in the novel itself, about three-quarters of the way in.
The other is in an interview with the author at the back of the book, in which
Jack is cited as a mentor/teacher/influence.

The Ice Beneath You is being published by Simon & Schuster, with a release date of
October 2, 2002.

"I adore St. Clare. It paints a very sweet, very
tender, image for me, that leaves me hopeful, hopeful
for more, hope for mankind, hope for safety, hope,
something that is needed at the end of a relationship,
a disaster, even a CD. A perfect ending."

"And the Jack Hardy song, which is beautiful."
(Observer newspaper...in the UK)

"'St-Clare' is absolutely fabulous. It is like the
promise of a spring where everything can happen."

"'St. Clare,' while it is short, is an elegant
benediction to all the preceeding turmoil."

"I was wondering if the lyrics to St. Clare are
somehow related to Leonard Cohen's novel 'Beautiful
Losers'. One of the protagonists is an
Iroquois saint, Catherine Tekakwitha, and parts of the
song fit perfectly to the plot of the novel. In it,
St. Catherine serves as the projective plane for all
(men's) man's desire. Here's the first paragraph of
the novel from 1966:
'Catherine Tekakwitha, who are you? Are you
(1656-1680)? Is that enough? Are you the Iroquois
Virgin? Are you the Lily of the Shores of the Mohawk
River? Can I love you in my own way? I am an old
scholar, better-looking now than when I was young.
That's what sitting on your ass does to your face.
I've come after you, Catherine Tekakwitha. I want to
know what goes on under that rosy blanket. Do I have
any right? I fell in love with a religious picture of
you. You were standing among birch trees, my favorite
trees. God knows how far up your moccasins were laced.
There was a river behind you, no doubt the Mohawk
River. Two birds in the left foreground would be
delighted if you tickled their white throats or even
if you used them as an example of something or other
in a parable.'"

"Fall is settling in, winter is therefore soon to
come, but St Clare reminds us that spring will come
again in it's time. I think it's a very beautiful
ending for an album with so much sadness and conflict.
It lets you off the hook by insuring that all wounds
will heal."

"St. Clare is great, touching and so sweet [...] I was surprised it
was the end of the album already, but after better thinking I find it
a perfect ending song, it leaves me with the taste of the rest of
the album, and with thoughts of beauty and longing and some
kind of peace."

"reactions during first hearing: [...] I do love St. Clare, however.

"reactions during second hearing: But St. Clare is my favorite song as of now.

"Suzanne knows how much I appreciate her work (I hope), but Jack Hardy does
not. Thank you for a lovely song, Jack... did you have Suzanne in mind when
you wrote this song? because I can't think of someone else who could sing
it so beautifully."

"St.Clare is still one song from 'Songs' which I listen repeat 1. One day I
have listened it for half an hour! Who said this song is too short?"

"But 'St. Clare' isn't for me 'healing energy'. Just opposite. My mind becomes
more and more unquiet because of this song. When Penitent seems to refer to
path 'to', St.Clare seems to refer to path 'from'. The first one brings me
sweet memories from my teenages. The second one worries me. Does she
(St.Clare or God) really be there that time when suffering brings my love
back for her (God)?"

"...[L]ilting, often achingly beautiful love songs that use ancient imagery to help create a
spiritual and historical dimension to the aspirations and griefs of the heart."
- Hugh Blumenfeld

"Hardy paints vivid, vibrant and specific images in tightly arranged songs that go straight to the heart....
The arrangements are remarkable; the musical lines blend into each other subtly, each retaining a thread of individuality which never overpowers the others....
Jack Hardy's Omens is a CD which should find its way into the collection of anyone who appreciates a fresh and original approach to Celtic-based folk-rock."
- Rambles Review

"Omens is a superb disc....
The 14 tracks show why Jack is cited as an influence of many of the best singer/songwriters
operating today, this is an exceptional album, varied, intelligent and full of great
musicians (including Kate MacLeod on fiddle). Highly recommended."
- Fish Records Mailer

"Hardy is backed by a strong but restrained folk-rock ensemble, and because the album was recorded
live in the studio, it has a nice, loose-limbed feel about it."
- Rick Anderson's review at getmusic.com

"Eclipse," on Jack's most recent album Omens, will be covered by Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen
on their forthcoming CD A Sense of Place
on the Redwing Music label.
The official release date is February 27, 2001.